1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical connector module and, more particularly, to an optical connector module having an improved structure for transmitting light between optical devices and optical fibers.
2. Description of the Related Art
An example of an optical connector module for converting an electrical signal into an optical signal to transmit the optical signal to an optical fiber or receiving an incident optical signal from the optical fiber to convert the optical signal into an electrical signal is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a conventional optical connector module includes an optical module 10, a connector 30, and a housing 20 combining the optical module 10 and the connector 30 together. The optical module 10 includes a frame 11, a light emitting device 12, a light receiving unit 13, and first lenses 14. The light emitting device 12 converts an electrical signal into an optical signal and the light receiving unit 13 converts an optical signal into an electrical signal, both of which are installed within the frame 11. The first lenses 14 are comprised of a pair of lenses so as to focus light emitted from the light emitting device 12 and light incident from the light receiving device 13.
An optical fiber 32 for transmitting light from the light emitting device 12 and an optical fiber 33 for transmitting light to the light receiving device 13 are installed within the connector 30. The housing 20 includes first and second reflecting mirrors 21 and 22 for reflecting light emitted from the light emitting device 12 to the optical fiber 32 for light transmission, and a third reflecting mirror 23 for reflecting light received from the optical fiber 33 for light reception to the light receiving device 13. Reference numeral 24 denotes a pair of second lenses which are disposed between the second reflecting mirror 22 and the optical fibers 32 and 33 for focusing incident light.
Referring to FIG. 2, D denotes the distance between the optical axis of the light emitting device 12 and the optical axis of the light receiving device 13, which is relatively long compared to the distance d between the optical axes of the respective optical fibers 32 and 33. Thus, a plurality of the reflecting mirrors 21, 22 and 23 is installed in order to connect optical paths between the light emitting device 12 and the optical fiber 32 for light transmission and between the light receiving device 13 and the optical fiber 33 for light reception. The light emitted from the light emitting device 12 changes its optical path while being reflected by the first and second reflecting mirrors 21 and 22 and is incident on the optical fiber 32 for light transmission, while the light emitted from the optical fiber 33 for light reception changes its optical path while being reflected by the second and third reflecting mirrors 22 and 23 and is incident on the light receiving device 13.
Light is reflected by two reflecting mirrors and passes through air along optical paths between the light emitting device 12 and the optical fiber 32 for light transmission and between the light receiving device 13 and the optical fiber 33 for light reception, respectively. As the light travels, the intensity decreases due to loss when the light is reflected from the reflecting mirrors 21, 22 and 23 passes through air. If the intensity of light reflected from the reflecting mirrors 21, 22 and 23 decreases, there is a drawback in that light transmission efficiency is lowered when light is transmitted between each of the light emitting and light receiving devices 12 and 13 and each of the optical fibers 32 and 33. Furthermore, use of many reflecting mirrors 21, 22, and 23 for reflecting light between each of the light emitting and receiving devices 12 and 13 and each of optical fibers 32 and 33 increases the number of parts and the number of assembling processes, thus increasing the manufacturing cost.
To solve the above problems, it is an objective of the present invention to provide an optical connector module having an improved structure so that light transmission efficiency is increased when light is transmitted between optical devices and optical fibers.
Accordingly, to achieve the above objective, the present invention provides an optical connector module including: a light emitting device which emits light and a light receiving device which receives light to convert an optical signal into an electrical signal; a connector including an optical fiber for light transmission and an optical fiber for light reception; a housing for coupling the optical module to the connector; and a light transmission device which is installed in the housing and includes an optical fiber for light transmission, one end of which is disposed on the side of the light emitting device so as to transmit light from the light emitting device to the optical fiber for light transmission of the connector and the other end of which is disposed on the side of the optical fiber for light transmission of the connector, and an optical fiber for light reception, one end of which is disposed on the side of the light receiving device so as to transmit light from the optical fiber for light reception of the connector to the light receiving device and the other end of which is disposed on the side of the optical fiber for light reception of the connector.
The distance between one end of the optical fiber for light transmission which is disposed in the housing and one end of the optical fiber for light reception which is disposed in the housing is greater than the distance between the other end of the optical fiber for light transmission which is disposed in the housing and the other end of the optical fiber for light reception which is disposed in the housing.